The Himalaya presents a formidable physical and political boundary between neighboring countries. For centuries, the deep gorges, high pass and open skies have provided corroders through which rivers flow, people trade, cultures mingle and wildlife migrate. Until recently, with the emerging concept of regional based conservation, some of these international borders have served as a significant barrier to the kind of cooperative actions which would allow these inter-dependent ecosystems to be managed in coordination with each otherRead More

Nepal was one of the first countries outside of Madagascar where SRI methods were evaluated, starting in 1999. The initial results were not very encouraging, perhaps because there was not adequate water control so that aerobic soil conditions could be maintained. From 2002 on, better results began to be reported, notably from the Sunsari-Morang irrigation project where a NEDECO technical assistance team and a cooperating Nepali NGO undertook to introduce and evaluate SRI methods through farmer field schools. SRI yields averaged 8.28 tons/hectare over two seasons, compared with 6.01 tons from ‘improved’ practices including use of chemical fertiliser and 4.29 tons with farmer practiceRead More